THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
LD Bell High School Athletics

Adjusting to a new country can be challenging, but Hayato Kawakami of Japan has mastered one part of his temporary home. The Hurst L.D. Bell junior exchange student from Osaka, Japan, won the very first tournament he played on American soil. Recently, his score of 76 not only earned top medalist honors at the Timber Creek Tournament, it helped the Blue Raiders break into the top three in the team standings for the first time in several years. “I had confidence in my golf game when I arrived to America but I was happy I won my first tournament,” Kawakami said. “I have set more goals of winning once again.” Kawakami came to America to learn English and foreign culture. He said his dream is to someday own a global company. Kawakami is not exactly a stranger to America. His family has visited Hawaii about 10 times on vacation, he said, but this is his first time in the 48 contiguous United States. “The biggest challenge is to take a lot of communication with people, because, of course, I came to America to study English,” he said. “Also, I am trying to communicate with many people during golf games.” His golf game speaks for itself. He started playing in junior high school, plays junior golf, and he plays for his high school team back home, where he said players take a technical approach to the game. “[In] Japanese high school, golf is thinking first of all,” he said. “It was very apparent watching Hayato the first day of practice, he has been very well-coached,” Bell coach Buddy Hamm said. “I feel his experience and work ethic will elevate the rest of the boys team to a higher level.” Kawakami also said the education system is different in Japan than in the United States. Like most American schools, they have classes all day Monday through Friday — and then some. “We also have four classes on Saturday,” he said. “After we finish all classes we have [golf] practice during school. We do shot practice and work out. “My school’s summer holiday has about one and a half months, but we have golf practice once a week and two tournaments during [the] summer holiday.” Hayato said his workouts in Japan consisted of a lot of stretching, followed by running at least one kilometer before warming up on the range, practicing chips and working on putting drills. After all the warmup time, then they practice/play the course. Kawakami said he has noticed a difference in Japanese courses and the ones he’s playing here. “The turf on Texas courses is different than Japan, so there has been a period of adjustment on how I play shots from difficult lies,” he said. And while he is still adjusting, one thing Kawakami said he loves about the North Texas area is, “I like that each person is unique and very kind.” Kawakami said he wants to continue his connection with the United States even though he plans to go to college in Japan. If his business is successful, he wants to build a company in America, he said. Hamm said his popularity has grown among fellow golfers in the short time Kawakami has been in the United States. “I am no expert on social media, but I have noticed Hayato has already built a strong fan base amongst the other players,” Hamm said. “I feel a big reason for Hayato’s popularity is that he is sincerely a very nice and humble young man, and ‘he has game.’” However, as much as he loves golf, he’s not thinking about playing professionally. But he does want to play in college and will likely be a regular on the links for the rest of his life, he said. “Yes, of course, because I love golf,” he said. “Right now I’m not thinking about playing professionally, because as a professional golfer golf becomes a job.” Kawakami said there is plenty of time ahead for that kind of thinking. For now, he’s focusing on enjoying his time in America, learning as much as he can, and helping his new friends have their best golf season in years. “I’m very happy I can play on the L.D. Bell High School golf team. I am thankful to the coach and the employees of the golf course, etc.,” he said. “I think the best way I can express my gratitude is to do well in all the golf tournaments for the team.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
LD Bell High School Athletics

BELL’S EXCHANGE STUDENT GOLFER WINS HIS VERY FIRST TOURNEY IN TEXAS

RICK MAUCH

Star Telegram | 11/8/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Buddy Hamm